SENATE TRANSPORTATION CHAIRMAN SEEKS ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ PLATE

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By DANIEL RAVEN
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX (Tuesday, April 15) _ The chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee is pushing for a special license plate saying “In God We Trust,” with proceeds helping to pay for Arizona’s highways.

Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, has tacked amendments onto two bills that would clear the way for creation of the special plate.

“It’s all about road-building,” Gould said.

Gould said he’d seen an Indiana “In God We Trust” plate and thought that bringing such a plate to Arizona while simultaneously funding state roadways would be a good idea. Several other states including Arkansas, South Carolina and North Carolina offer such plates.

One bill carrying a Gould floor amendment, HB 2046, which originally would have created just a special plate benefiting state-run Arizona Highways magazine, cleared the Senate on an 18-10 vote Tuesday.

Sen. Marsha Arzberger, D-Willcox, who voted against the bill, called Gould’s amendment “weird.”

“There’s no organization involved,” Arzberger said. “Nobody requested this. This is just one senator who decided to stick an amendment on the end of a bill.”

“It’s mixing government and religion, and I don’t think government should be promoting it,” said Sen. Paula Aboud, D-Tucson, another opponent.

Gould said his amendment helped keep afloat HB 2046, sponsored by Rep. Marian McClure, R-Tucson.

“It was going down until I told the members that a vote for it is also a vote for the ‘In God We Trust’ license plate,” Gould said.

McClure didn’t immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday’s vote sent her bill back to the House, which will consider the Senate’s changes.

The bill is one of several seeking special plates this legislative session. Others seek to honor and support troops, families that have lost relatives in war, the Arizona Masonic Fraternity and Phoenix Suns Charities.

The Arizona Highways plate called for under HB 2046 would cost $25, with $17 of that cost going toward the magazine, which is published in association with the state Department of Transportation. Under Gould’s amendment, $17 of the $25 cost of an “In God We Trust” plate would go toward state highways.

Win Holden, publisher of Arizona Highways, said he has no control over the legislative process but thinks the plate that would honor his magazine is beautiful.

“We wouldn’t want to have anything that didn’t do justice to the topography or looked less high quality than anything that would appear in the magazine,” Holden said.

Gould also added a Senate Transportation Committee amendment calling for “In God We Trust” plates to HB 2250, a bill sponsored by Rep. Jerry Weiers, R-Glendale, originally intended to deal with procedures for requesting special plates for organizations. That bill was awaiting action by the full Senate.

Dan Tochoda, legal director of ACLU of Arizona, said his organization is keeping a close eye on HB 2046 and will examine whether to send the governor a letter calling for a veto should the bill pass the House.

“As a general matter, minus some strange twists, courts have shown that having a slogan like ‘In God We Trust’ is OK,” Tochoda said.

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CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-SPECIAL PLATES: This mock-up shows the design proposed for a special plate honoring and raising money for state-run Arizona Highways magazine. Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, attached an amendment to a bill calling for the Arizona Highways plate that would clear the way for a special plate saying “In God We Trust.” (Photo Credit: Courtesy of Arizona Highways)